This dissertation focuses on the fact that despite a constitutional guarantee to the contrary, South Africans are in fact losing their South African citizenship as a result of gaining foreign citizenship by way of a voluntary and formal act. Specific attention is paid to the difficulty of interpreting the widely generalised designation “a voluntary and formal act” in order to decide exactly whether and when citizenship is actually lost, particularly in light of the said guarantee. The dissertation dwells generally on the means of acquisition, loss and deprivation of citizenship, but then proceeds naturally to the issue of loss of citizenship by way of a voluntary and formal act and how, if at all, citizenship can be restored in such instances. Special attention is paid to significant landmark procedural changes occurring in 1995 in the acquisition of foreign citizenship by South Africans. The affected procedures include applications for exemption, retention, resumption, determination of status and the right to retain permanent residence. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees that no citizen may be deprived of their citizenship and yet South Africans are indeed losing their citizenship. An investigation is conducted into the procedural fairness, right to written reasons and the reasonableness of the procedures followed by the Department of Home Affairs in depriving South African citizens of their South African citizenship. A comparative survey of South African citizenship laws and those of the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America and Zimbabwe is followed by suggestions deemed constructive in view of the variously intransient positions adopted by the surveyed countries on the pertinent issue of loss of citizenship due to acquiring foreign citizenship. The solutions offered towards rectifying the current procedures followed by the Department of Home Affairs, and towards increasing public awareness and understanding of the law on this issue include proposed amendments to legislation, procedural changes and the upgrading of administrative systems in the said Department in order to handle loss of citizenship and related consequences more effectively. Direct correspondence was conducted with the Citizenship Section of Head Office of the Department of Home Affairs, in compliance with the rules and procedures of the Ethics Committee of the University of Pretoria, in order to gain clarity on the issues at hand. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Public Law / unrestricted

The main objective of this thesis is to explore the issue of microregional associations, the center of my interest is the Borsko microregion and the renewal project of the recreational area Bonětice. I am especially interested in how this association is performing since its establishment, how it is pursuing its aims, which projects were implemented by the Borsko microregion, whether it is operating effectively and, ultimately, what barriers and limits the development is facing. To confirm my initial assumptions, I used the survey method. The work is divided into two parts, theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part I deal with basic concepts and practical part deals with the microregion Borsko. The work also includes socio-economic analysis of microregion Borsko.

This study tests a model which suggests that the external forces on a firm, the size and age of the firm, the industry and competitive market in which a firm operates, the level of leverage of the firm, as well as whether it has good or bad news regarding future earnings have an impact on whether a firm provides precise forecasts in its MD&A. Furthermore, the model suggests that firms providing precise forward-looking statements in the MD&A have lower forecast errors. Using 2SLS, the proposed model is tested using forward-looking statements regarding sales, earnings per share, cash flow, and capital expenditures extracted from the 2004 and 2005 annual reports of firms listed on the 2002 Fortune 500 list.

Background: In the last decades voluntary disclosure has become more common. The available research on the subject has mainly focused on the motive of voluntary disclosure rather than the content or what kind of information is published most frequent. There is a shortcoming in the academic literature about what information outflow is focused on and to whom. Henceforth this study aims to analyze the voluntary disclosure in the annual report among listed companies on the Swedish Stock Exchange. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to operationalize and describe voluntary disclosure to contribute empirically to the knowledge gap within the subject. The study intends to clarify the type of voluntary disclosure that dominates in annual reports on Stockholm Stock Exchange. Method: To answer our purpose of this study as well as possible we conducted a qualitative content analysis with selected companies’ annual reports. This literature study has an abductive research strategy based on collecting empirical data from the annual reports of the companies with the most new owners by 2020. Based on a checklist and a coding scheme, the empirical data will be quantified, analyzed and compared. Results and conclusions:We found in accordance that the companies published a considerably high amount of voluntary disclosure in their annual report. The companies with the most new owners distinguished themselves by publishing more voluntary information than companies with fewer new owners. The categories of voluntary disclosure that were given the highest priority were financial information about the company and organization.

Many clinicians believe exercise associated muscle cramps (EAMC) occur because of dehydration and electrolyte losses. Experimental research supporting this theory is lacking. Mild hypohydration (3% body mass loss) does not alter cramp threshold frequency (TF), a measure of cramp susceptibility, when fatigue and exercise intensity are controlled. No experimental research has examined TF following significant (3-5% body mass loss) or serious hypohydration (>5% body mass loss). TF and blood variables of ten subjects were measured pre-post exercise. Subjects exercised in an environmental heat chamber alternating between upper arm ergometry and non-dominant leg cycling every 15 minutes until they lost 5% of their body mass or were too exhausted to continue. Significant (n=5) or serious hypohydration (n=5) did not alter cramp TF, cramp intensity, or cramp EMG amplitude. Significant and serious hypohydration with moderate electrolyte losses does not alter cramp susceptibility when fatigue and exercise intensity are controlled.

Magister Artium - MA / According to our ordinary conception of voluntary action, our actions are the causal result of conscious intentions. To take a very basic example: I wish to take a sip of coffee, and I therefore reach out and take hold of the mug. However, studies performed by Libet challenge this ordinary conception. What Libet found in his experiments was that the brain initiates voluntary actions and the person becomes consciously aware of an intention to act only some 400 msec after the brain’s initiation; for instance, my brain has already initiated the process of causing my arm to reach out and take hold of the mug some 400 msec before I am aware that I wish to take a sip of coffee. That is, conscious intention doesn’t appear to precede voluntary action at all – it actually follows it (or follows its initiation, at least), and thus Libet’s studies present a serious challenge to our ordinary conception of voluntary action. This project will investigate whether a particular theory of mind – namely, Armstrong’s Central State Materialism – can cope with the challenge posed by Libet’s studies and salvage our ordinary conception of voluntary action. Armstrong’s theory appears promising in this regard because his account of consciousness and introspection as higher-order states seems to allow room that we will become aware of our willings only after those willings are already initiated.

This study examines the depth of audience engagement with six dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) via the Instagram platforms of pharmaceutical companies. Recent research on the relationship between CSR and health communication has established a robust link between both variables but created a gap on the level of audience engagement. Drawing on Voluntary Disclosure, Agenda Setting and Media System Dependency theories, this study finds that voluntary communication of CSR strategies has the maximum potential to set the agenda for audience engagement on social media. The remodeled digitization of the media has increased the level of media dependency making social media a tool to be leveraged for effective health communication. The results revealed that Community Volunteering had the strongest impact on total audience engagement and revealed that engagement is higher with image posts than video posts. This study is important for the burgeoning field of CSR in the healthcare industry.

This study aims to generate increased understanding for, and to portray, the mobile lifestyle vanlife by examining motives, obstacles and potential consequences of this particular lifestyle.  The study was conducted using qualitative method. The selection of study participants was aimed towards people who own or have owned a mobile home and lives or have lived in it periodically at the least. The selection was interviewed through semi structured interviews, and the empiric material was analyzed using thematic analysis.  The results show that vanlife can be seen as a form of voluntary simplicity because it’s a minimalistic lifestyle both in terms of resource- and energy consumption and because of the simpler dwelling. Vanlife can also be seen as a form of lifestyle migration because of the great importance of the destination to people within vanlife, but also because they can move to these places whenever they feel due to the flexible mobility of their homes.  The strongest motive is freedom in various aspects – such as freedom to travel but also financial freedom. Another strong motive is the feeling of belonging to a community. The opinions about the environmental impact of the lifestyle are divided among the participants, but some testify of negative impacts on local environments. Cold weather and safety concerns are some of the obstacles to vanlife, and a feeling of not belonging anywhere are one of the consequences. Additionally, vanlifers don’t want to be confused with people living at traditional camping grounds.

Asserts that competitive pressures make careful applications of marketing management tools imperative for the survival of time-dependent non-profit organizations. Illustrates a pragmatic tool which a volunteer-dependent organization can use to determine its strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis the competition. This tool is used to assess the competitive weaknesses and strengths of Big Brothers/Big Sisters vis-à-vis Special Olympics. Concludes by offering constructive advice as to how Big Brothers/Big Sisters can turn a “latent competitive advantage” into a “solid competitive advantage”.

The increase in new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections among heterosexual couples in Africa may reverse the gains made by HIV prevention programs. HIV screening among such couples remains low and understudied.This qualitative study focused on the motivations for HIV screening among heterosexual couples. The primary research goal was to examine the lived experiences of heterosexual couples who were screened for HIV and received their results in Nakuru-Kenya. The health belief model (HBM) served as the theoretical framework and as a basis for the secondary questions which sought to explore the participants' perceptions on HIV based on the constructs of the HBM. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposively selected sample of 14 heterosexual couples. Data were collected through face-to-face audio-recorded interviews, which were coded and analyzed using Moustakas's phenomenological data analysis method. Six major themes emerged from the clustered responses of the participants. Couples recognized that they may be susceptible to HIV infection because HIV is transmitted primarily through sexual contact. Some couples perceived HIV as a severe, life-threatening condition in their lives; others perceived HIV as chronic disease that could be managed through treatment and good health care. The fear of negative consequences was cited as a barrier to couples' willingness to receive HIV counselling and testing. Couples perceived HIV testing as having multiple benefits, including freedom from worries and as a motivation to plan their lives. Health messages and partner dialogue were major cues that encouraged couples to undergo HIV testing. Testimonials from other couples who had been tested and chose to talk about their experiences contributed to a strong feeling of self-efficacy. These study findings may help to improve HIV prevention interventions for heterosexual couples.